Covering the blossoming startup industry in Portland, Oregon, and the Silicon Forest

January 12th, 2010

Portland-based StepChange becomes part of a burgeoning social agency

When I was looking forward to 2010, I mentioned that I thought there were some acquisitions on the horizon for Portland companies. I mean, based on what’s been happening, it seemed only reasonable that there would be a few. But I had no idea so many of those acquisitions would be rearing their respective heads in the two weeks of 2010.

“This is the approach to a new type of social agency that brands are looking for to engage with social media in a way that complements traditional media pursuits,” said Kevin Tate, StepChange founder. “All of it has to be integrated.”

And they seem to have a found a good group of companies that will help them explore this model, gain some additional resources, and allow them to continue doing the same kind of great work they’ve done to date.

We spent the last half of 2009 looking at lots of different ways to expand StepChange, anticipating that 2010 would be a very big year for Social Media Marketing. In Powered, Drillteam & Crayon, we found a set of like-minded companies with complementary social media marketing offerings. And with the gas that Austin Ventures is putting in our tank, we’ll be able to grow quickly and be early to market with a new type of “Social Agency” that offers unique services, scale and reach.

In other good news, StepChange will remain in Portland and is sure to be hiring to help realize this vision.